In 2024, more than 529,000 new intellectual property cases were admitted to the national courts, resulting in more than 543,000 trials and a steady improvement in the quality of trials; the national courts have maintained strict protection and applied punitive damages in 460 cases of civil infringement of intellectual property, an increase of 44. 2 per cent over the same period。
Maintaining a level playing field
Strengthening anti-monopoly and anti-improper competition justice would facilitate the acceleration of the construction of an efficient regulatory, competitive and fully open national unified market, the deeper integration of innovation elements and the efficient allocation of innovative resources。
In an interview with a journalist, the relevant head of the supreme people's court explained that, in recent years, the supreme people's court has taken four measures in the area of anti-monopoly trials: the first is that all kinds of monopoly cases are dealt with in accordance with the law. Monopolistic cases before the people's courts are growing steadily. Between 2013 and 2024, the national courts handled 1145 cases of civil first instance monopoly and concluded 1,071 cases. From its inception on 1 january 2019 until the end of december 2024, the intellectual property tribunal of the supreme people's court dealt with 282 cases of monopolistic civil and administrative second instance and concluded 243 cases. In 2024, 97 trials were completed. In 2024, the national courts found 31 cases constituting a monopoly, a 2. 1-fold increase over the same period。
Second is the strengthening of antimonopoly justice in the priority area. Strengthen anti-monopoly justice efforts in priority areas such as livelihoods, internet platforms and communications, and create an enabling environment to protect fair competition in markets and encourage innovation. In the area of livelihood, the cases involved a wide range of sectors such as education, medicine, food, water and gas supply, travel services and the supply of construction materials。
Thirdly, efforts have been made to harmonize rules for adjudication. In june 2024, the supreme people's court issued interpretations on certain issues of the law applicable to the trial of monopolistic civil disputes, which provide comprehensive and systematic regulation of the application of judicial antimonopoly from the operation of the procedure to the application of the substantive law; the supreme people's court published three successive cases of antimonopoly guidance, and issued a total of six sets of 37 typical antimonopoly cases, which were incorporated into the people's court's case bank. These judicial interpretations and the publication of typical cases play an important role in guiding local courts to deal fairly and efficiently with monopolistic civil and administrative cases and in safeguarding fair competition in the market。
Fourth is the strengthening of judicial coordination of antimonopoly enforcement. The promotion of an organic interface between the antimonopoly administrative inspectorate and civil compensation, harmonization of administrative enforcement standards with those of the judiciary, and effective judicial cooperation in antimonopoly enforcement, including through the active processing and adjudication of subsequent civil proceedings for antimonopoly enforcement, the legal transfer to antimonopoly law enforcement agencies of information found in civil proceedings, and the legal consideration of antimonopoly administrative litigation cases。
Improving the punitive compensation system
The party's twenty-third plenary session called for the improvement of the punitive compensation system. In 2024, the national courts applied punitive damages to 460 cases of serious malicious violations, an increase of 44. 2 per cent over the same period, which effectively deterred the perpetrators and effectively upheld the legitimate rights and interests of the rights holders。
The relevant head of the supreme people's court explained that, in recent years, the people's court has carried out three main tasks in applying punitive damages and increasing the protection of intellectual property rights: first, by adhering to the strict protection concept of the law. The people's court, in its application of the punitive compensation system, insists on the non-retroactivity of the law, on active caution and on the proportionality of penalties. The decision in the case is based on a legal determination of subjective and intentional composition, constant refinement of the criteria for determining the gravity of the case, full application of the judge's discretion, active application of the system's factual identification mechanism for the presentation of evidence, precise determination of the basis for calculation, reasonable determination of the multiples of compensation, and increasing the scientific and rationality of the calculation of damages. Punitive damages act as a deterrent to intentional gross infringement of intellectual property rights, based on full respect for and expression of the value of intellectual property。
Secondly, the punitive compensation system is constantly being improved. Currently, the civil code, the patent act, the trademark act, the copyright act, the anti-improper competition act, the seed act, etc. Provide for punitive damages. The supreme people's court has developed a special judicial interpretation. It has issued one case of guidance in relation to punitive damages, six cases in typical cases, 12 cases in the case book, 218 answers in the legal aid network, and has further clarified the applicable criteria and reasoning of the punitive compensation system。
Thirdly, the protection of rights and interests in new and emerging areas is constantly being strengthened. People's courts have effectively increased the protection of innovation in key technological areas, allowing “real innovation” to be “really protected” and “quality” to be “strictly protected”. For example, the “new energy car chassis” technology secret violation case was closed and punitive damages were awarded for over $640 million. The case was selected as the “ten top cases in 2024 for the promotion of the rule of law in a new era”。
Strengthening intellectual property protection in seed industries
Seeds are “chips” for agriculture, and the protection of intellectual property rights in farming is an important guarantee for achieving high-quality agricultural development and maintaining national food security. In 2024, the intellectual property tribunal of the supreme people's court disposed of 167 cases of new plant varieties and 90 per cent of the cases were won, effectively defending the legitimate interests of the breeders。
The relevant head of the supreme people's court explained that the people's court had strengthened the protection of intellectual property rights in the following areas: since its establishment on 1 january 2019, the intellectual property court of the supreme people's court has been responsible for focusing on second-instance cases of new plant varieties. In the past six years, 659 such cases have been heard and 544 have been completed. During the same period, the number of civil cases in the first instance of new plant varieties received by the national court has increased significantly, compared with 2,877 before the establishment of the tribunal。
The second is to refine the rules of adjudication. The supreme people's court has developed and revised three judicial interpretations of the protection of new varieties of plants, issued four guiding cases, issued for five consecutive years five batches and 65 typical cases of protection of intellectual property rights in the people's courts, covering three main areas of civil, administrative and criminal justice, and has been incorporated into the people's court's case bank, effectively harmonizing rules of adjudication and acting as a model lead for typical cases。
Third is the optimization of working mechanisms. The supreme people's court directs local courts to actively explore new models of judicial protection that are adapted to the characteristics of the local industry. For example, the hongnan free trade port intellectual property court has worked to create a new high ground for judicial protection of intellectual property rights in the international chemical industry, working with the relevant authorities to create integrated rule-of-law service guarantee centres that combine such functions as research, dispute resolution and education。
The fourth is to build a big protection landscape. The supreme people's court has signed a memorandum of cooperation with the ministry of agriculture and rural development to enhance information and business exchanges, promote effective links between administrative law enforcement and judicial proceedings, and actively develop a pattern of greater protection of intellectual property rights in the farming industry。
“in the next step, the people's court will continue to provide a high level of judicial protection of intellectual property rights, promoting competition for the dynamism of all factors of production, the full flow of all sources of innovation, and the acceleration of development in the service of the rule of law and the safeguarding of new quality productivity.” the relevant head of the supreme people's court indicated. (reporter kang woo)
